Aged women in Nairobi found to be more prone to urinary tract infections

Nairobi, Kenya: The women of Nairobi,
who stunned the world with their ability
to resist the Aids virus about two decades
ago, have once again yielded exclusive
information that could lead to the
development of new treatments and
vaccines for the elderly.
Last year, the World Health Organisation
(WHO) said life expectancy in Kenya had
jumped from 44 years four decades ago
to 63 years today.
But for most, the health body indicated,
about eight of these additional years are
spent in pain partially because there has
been little research in treatments for the
elderly.
On Tuesday, top researchers from Kenya
and Canada, who have been hunting for a
HIV vaccine for nearly three decades, said
they have discovered how ageing and
menopause are linked to the disease
fighting capacity in the female genital
track.
Seven world-acclaimed researchers
including, Prof Walter Jaoko and Dr Joshua
Kimani of the University of Nairobi and
others Manitoba of Canada in their
findings published in the peer-reviewed
journal Immunity & Ageing believe they
are the first to have studied the link
between aging, menopause and immunity
in cervical tissue. “To the best of our
knowledge this is the first extensive study
that analysed the impact of age and
menopause on production of immune
hormones in the cervical compartment of
African women,” they wrote.
Specifically, they were studying what are
called cytokines and chemokines -
chemicals in the body that direct disease
fighting cells how to react when one has
been infected by disease-causing
organisms.
With age and menopause the ability of
these hormones to react appropriately
has been found to wane and in this
particular study it was found to be even
more in the cervical tissue.
The team took blood and cervical tissue
samples from 176 commercial sex
workers in Pumwani, Nairobi, which were
shipped to Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
for analysis.
Research group
The women belonging to a research group
called the Pumwani Sex Worker Cohort in
Nairobi, established in 1985, by the two
universities are most likely among the
most studied humans on earth.
Some women in this group have intrigued
researchers with their ability to resist the
Aids-causing virus even after heavy and
sustained exposure through risky sex
work and scholars have remained hopeful
that they will yield a vaccine against the
scourge.
In this particular study the researchers
involved HIV negative women from
relatively young age of 30 to
grandmothers of 65 and found that older
women and those who had reached
menopause had diminished infection-
fighting capacity specifically in the genital
track.
Though the researchers did not dwell on
the implication of weakened immunity in
the genital track and commercial sex, the
study suggests that these women should
consider retiring early before they
become prone to various urinary tract
infections.
While the team did not look at the
duration the women had been involved in
sex work, it was not lost to them that the
profession had an impact on lose of body
immunity. Sex work, they wrote, is known
to have an impact on how hormones in
the cervical tissue work. Although these
women, including a group in Majengo
slums in Nairobi, may not appear on the
country’s list of “Mashujaa” they have all
the same made a monumental
contribution to the world knowledge of
HIV.

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